Tag Archive: Health

I’ve been doing some research of late into lead paint because we’re considering buying a home built in 1950. We’ll be performing a test on Thursday to determine whether materials in the home are coated in paint containing lead. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against us. Homes built prior to 1978 are likely to contain elevated levels of lead paint and those built prior to 1950 are all likely contain some lead-based products. Even homes with copper plumbing might have been soldered together with solder containing lead.

Lead is absorbed into the body in the same manner as other minerals and nutrients, so the body sends the toxin directly to our brains and other vital organs. Consequently, children are far more likely to suffer elevated levels of lead since their growing bodies are taking in more nutrients than their adult counterparts. One way to reduce exposure to lead is to ensure a healthy diet rich in calcium and iron.

Lead has been blamed for the downfall of the Roman civilization. Romans used the highly-pliable metal to mold pipes which carried water to the people. In fact, the word “plumbing” comes from the Greek word, plumbum, for lead. Lead has also been implicated in the loss a few IQ points for we Generation X folk due to exposure to lead used commonly throughout the first part of the last century on everything from toys to homes to public buildings to plumbing and gasoline.

Lead paint cannot be painted over except with pain designed specifically to encapsulate the lead-paint layer(s). High areas of friction generate lead dust which enters the air and may be absorbed by humans and other animals living inside the home. Lead dust must be wiped away with a cleanser; vacuuming dust will only throw more particles into the air. Lead does not break down, so it is as toxic today as the day it was mined. Left undisturbed, lead-based paint should not pose a direct danger. Lead may be present in your soil – especially if your home (or a nearby residence) has recently been repainted or power-washed. If you live in a home built prior to 1978, have your blood checked to determine lead-levels in your body. If you have children, it is recommended you have them tested also.

From the CDC.gov (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

For children at risk for lead exposure, a simple blood test can prevent a lifetime spoiled by the irreversible damage caused by lead poisoning.

One of the most important risk factors for lead exposure is the age of housing. Over 80 percent of all homes built before 1978 in the U.S. have lead-based paint in them. The older the house, the more likely it is to contain lead-based paint and a higher concentration of lead in the paint.

According to recent CDC estimates, 890,000 U.S. children age 1-5 have elevated blood lead levels, and more than one-fifth of African-American children living in housing built before 1946 have elevated blood lead levels. These figures reflect the major sources of lead exposure: deteriorated paint in older housing, and dust and soil that are contaminated with lead from old paint and from past emissions of leaded gasoline.

Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death.

Children between 12 and 36 months of age have a lot of hand to mouth activity, so if there is lead in their homes, they are more likely to take it in than are older children.

I’m 29 years old. I purchased my first gallon of gas for around $0.79 at age 16. Ten years later, I was paying $2.49/gallon. Today, a gallon of gasoline (regular unleaded) is $4.18 at the pump; a 430% increase over my first gallon.

Some get mad at the price. They point fingers at oil companies making record profits or at President Bush (the worst president ever) and his oil buddies or they blame the war. And they (we) should be angry, but what really angers me is the feeling that we’ll allow this rise in prices to continue unabated until our country bursts at the seams with inflation. The oil companies have a hand in everything we do from driving to work to taking a much-needed, well-deserved vacation. We had a choice in the 1970s when we saw the first dramatic spike in oil, but we sat idling in the great parking-lots of centers of energy and policy. And we have the same choice today, but for some reason, the technologies are slow-moving. Why are hybrids still too costly for the lower middle class? What does it mean when in America, the cost of driving to work, does not warrant the job itself? And today there’s more at stake than just the price of gas, we must consider also the cost of driving. What impact will current and future technologies have on our environment and well-being? So I’m not just frustrated with big oil, I’m frustrated with us. We’re not the only country in the world importing oil, but we a great country on the fragile brink of economic collapse because of a severe lack of foresight.

I’m asking now for those readers who do not normally comment, to consider posting ideas for free-energy, education, the economy, etc. We don’t need to fuel the argument; we need to power a solution.

We drove my path and found I’m running almost exactly two miles which means I’m averaging a 12-minute mile. Even better, should I decide to add an extra mile here and there, I can simply double my loop. And getting to 20-minutes means a 10-minutes mile. I think this is an easily obtainable goal.

For more information about running or preparing for a marathon, visit Coach Joe!

Ryan’s funeral is today. I was planning on going, but woke up with a really sore throat. Trying now to nurse myself back to health. I’ll certainly be thinkin of Ryan and wondering how Stephan did in yesterday’s race. Ryan’s brother flew to Utah Friday to compete Saturday and fly back in time for today’s funeral. Our thoughts are with the Shay family.